1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a power sliding mini-van door, and in particular, to a motor which can be used to drive both a power drive assembly and a lock cinching assembly of the door.
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventional systems for automatically opening and closing a sliding door in a vehicle include a power drive assembly for moving the door and a latch assembly for cinching the door so that the door can be moved into a fully locked position. A first motor drives the power drive assembly and a second motor drives the latch assembly. The use of these multiple motors leads to a number of difficulties. For example, the use of the multiple motors increases the cost of the system and further necessitates additional corresponding circuitry to be added to the system, thereby further increasing costs. Moreover, the increase in components as a result of using multiple motors results in an undesirable increase in the weight of the door.
When the door of the vehicle is being opened or closed, it will often encounter an obstacle which will resist or hinder the door's movement. This obstacle can be, for example, a user of the vehicle. Thus, it is desirable for a system which automatically opens or closes the door to be able to reverse direction upon the detection of the obstacle. Unfortunately, these detection systems can fail, sometimes without previous notification of its defective state being provided to the vehicle's users. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have at least two systems to detect obstacles of the door's movement in case one of the systems fails.
In conventional systems, changes in motor speed are a direct function of the effective voltage of an input signal. When the opening or closing of the door is initiated, the rapidly changing input signal causes an in-rush current. This in-rush current is known to demagnetize motor magnets, which reduces horsepower and is detrimental to the life of any motor. Thus, it would be desirable to reduce or eliminate the in-rush current.